World War Two shipwrecks

A unique feature of the NT’s maritime heritage are its
World War Two shipwrecks. All of the following ships were sunk in Darwin Harbour as a result of the first Japanese air raid in Australia on 19 February 1942:

British Motorist

Kelat

Mauna Loa

USS Meigs

Neptuna

USS Peary

Zealandia

Most of these wrecks were partially salvaged by a Japanese salvage company in the late 1950s to early 1960s. All wrecks are now protected by the Heritage Act. Read the law.

The Don Isidro and Florence D were both sunk by
Japanese planes off Bathurst Island, north of Darwin on 19 February 1942.

The wreck of the Florence D was discovered in 2009.
Other ships and planes lost at sea during the war remain unlocated.

The wreck of the Japanese submarine, the I-124,
which went down with all its crew on 20 January 1942 is located off the NT
coast.

Cyclone Tracy
wrecks

On Christmas Eve 1974 when Cyclone Tracy struck
Darwin, 71 people lost their lives, including 16 at sea.

The fate of two vessels lost in Cyclone Tracy, the
Booya and the Darwin Princess, remained a mystery until the discovery of the
wreck of the Booya in Darwin Harbour in October 2003.

The wreck of the Darwin Princess was located not
far from the Booya in May 2004.

Both wreck sites are of symbolic significance as
the place where people lost their lives in tragic circumstances. Five people died on the
Booya and one person died on the Darwin Princess.

Shipwreck information

Protected zones

Both the Heritage Act and the Historic Shipwrecks Act include penalties
for interfering with protected sites.

A protected zone may be declared around a shipwreck under the Historic
Shipwrecks Act, requiring a permit to enter.

There are currently three
protected zones with closed water orders in the NT:

the Japanese submarine I-124, lost off Bathurst Island in 1942

the Florence D, sunk by Japanese aircraft off Bathurst Island in
1942

the Sanyo Maru, sunk in a storm off the Arnhem Land coast in 1937.

There are also currently two sites in Darwin Harbour that have 'closed waters' controls over them by order of the harbourmaster. The Booya and Catalina 6. These areas cannot be entered without permission of the Heritage Branch.

You can dive on the wreck of the Booya in Darwin Harbour with
permission from the Heritage Branch, but you cannot fish or anchor.

To find out if you are
allowed to dive on a wreck or carry out other activities such as fishing, or if you need a permit to enter, contact the Heritage Branch.